Thank you for these, Daniel.I suddenly realized while downloading these that my exposure to his early works has been very light; in fact, the earliest opus I remember playing when I was young was the opus 32 songs. (Never got into the sonatas.)Are these early works? Or just numbered funny? The fourth, especially, sounds like a "young" Brahms and foreshadows some of the work in the Opus100++ range. A little on the dark side.I enjoyed these and your playing. Since I'm unfamiliar with them I'll have to leave it at that.I assume you performed these. How did that go? How did the audience react to these?

The Ballads op 10 are indeed early works, written by a 21-year-old Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1854. After Robert Schumann was taken to an asylum for the insane near Bonn following an attempt to drown himself in the Rhine River in Düsseldorf, Brahms moved there to support Clara and the children and it was during that summer that he composed the Ballads. He also sent a copy to Robert Schumann, who seemed to like them very much. I think I read somewhere that Brahms said later on that the Ballades always reminded him of the summer spent with Clara and the children.

I played them last year in some recitals, together with the late Intermezzi op. 117 in the first half. I liked the combination of the early and late works and it was generally well received but 35 - 40 minutes of Brahms might have been a bit of an overdose on one or two occasions. I remember one lady who came to me after a recital saying: "How can you play that stuff with som much passion?". Well, I guess, Brahms is a question of taste after all

These are very good Daniel. More than good enough for the site, and I will put them up tonight.If they're maybe not spotless, any flaws could only be noticed by a very trained ear of someone who's intimate with the pieces. I heard a couple of tiny issues and (maybe) misreadings in no.2. The fierce middle section could have been a little less heavy on itsfeet and a bit more incisive. Easier said than done of course. The other ones sound pretty perfect to me, especially no.4 which is much harder to bring off than it sounds, and you do a marvellous job here. In the 9th bar from the end of no.4, you play a couple of C#'s which should be C natural. This was actually the most disturbing thing I heard in all 4 of these Great work, and very accomplished Brahms playing.

Nice to hear these. These earlier ballades seem somewhat neglected in favor of the Op. 117-118 pieces, and I particularly like the first two from this set.

The playing is generally solid (with the possible exception of a few minor muddled passages in number three). However, I would like to hear more differentiation of texture (no mean feat in Brahms's lush sonorities, of course). They seem a bit literal and clunky to my ears, with the bass rather prominent in places, and there could be more dynamic inflection. That said, I did very much like your crescendo in the middle section of the first one (but maybe more heroism could be in order, which could be achieved by crisper accents and some well-placed rubato in places). In the slower parts (like the intro of the fourth), you could be more attentive to pedal usage and listen more to the various voices in the texture.

Very well played and a nice Brahmsian sound. I listened to the first two, which I played when I was young (quite a long time ago). I was particularly impressed with the steady build in the Allegro in no 1, it is so easy to do the crescendo too fast, and to increase tempo. I played this a lot wilder (but as I said, I was young...). In no 2 you make very good sense of the staccato and leggerio part, something I never managed to understand. Also the end of no 2 shows an amazing tonal control without slowing down, really excellent. Thanks for bringing these here.

Some hopefully constructive details: in No 1 in the poco piu moto the melody is sometimes drowned by the other voices. This could be an issue with the recording or possibly a lapse of concentration (you play the melody very well most of the time). I would play the Andante a bit faster and with more rubato but this is of course a matter of taste. Your immaculate handling of the 2 vs 3 in the Allegro lapses around 2.30 where I think you let the LH follow the RH to produce a dotted rhythm. In no 2 I would definitely use more rubato in the andante - it says espressivo after all and though you make good use of dynamics there is a risk of sounding a bit boring. The large D major rolled chord towards the end of the Andante actually breaks the rhythm, either roll it quicker or begin it earlier, to keep the LH steady.

But these are nitpicks, overall this is a good performance.

Joachim

Edit: I now also listened to no 3 and 4 and think they are really excellent. In particular no 4 seems to require extended concentration to achieve the meditative effect, that cannot be easy. It does indeed sound like a much later Brahms. I don't think I have heard it before, thanks again for this!

Your comments are certainly constructive, helpful and encouraging. Many thanks for listening and commenting. I'll be performing these Ballads in a private recital in about three weeks and it seems the list of things to bear in mind is growing

However, one word in defence of my "Poco più moto" in No 1. I try to give the bass more weight in bars 8 - 13 because I think this is where the melody is. In bars 21 - 26, the soprano repeats this melody and that's what I tried to get across by highlighting the bass line in bars 8 - 13.

I've been pressed for time tonight, but went to my favorite, No. 4. This piece is truly a romance and you played it with artistry in my opinion. You made the cantabile line sing, you were especially expressive in the gentle flow of the music, and created much beauty with your nuances. Thanks for posting it!

David

_________________"Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities." David April

Last edited by Rachfan on Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks, David. Number 4 is also my favourite. I have to say that it took a quite a while and some help from an excellent pianist and wonderful teacher, Gotthard Kladetzky in Cologne, Germany, to get it sort of right.

My first teacher used to refer to Brahms as "this mature composer". But she wasn't referring to his age; rather, his insights, concepts of composing, and musical style. I especially like the burnished sound found in so many of his works.

David

_________________"Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities." David April

Thank you Daniel for this beautiful rendition. Since the time where I discovered Brahms' ballads by the great Michelangeli, I have wanted to learn them. Hearing your version gives me furthermore motivation. It is nice to have such a set of pieces on PS server, available for anyone ! Regards,

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